In the middle of October, I flew back to the UK for 4 weeks to catch up on friends and various tasks at home.  Jessica has done an excellent job of looking after the house and garden and we have done some nice things together whilst I have been back.  Alex returned with Becki after spending the summer in Corfu and is now looking for his first job as Architectural technologist.  I suspect he and Becki will be coming out to see us next year if they can save up the money.

This is a great opportunity to tell you of some of the things we did in August whilst Jessica was staying with us.  Firstly we hired horses from a local yard and went hacking in the Pocahontas State Park.  These were Tenessee walking horses and they had a lovely disposition.  What made them unique was the way in which they walk and trot.  Unlike most horses who use diagonally opposite legs for these 2 actions. the walking horse uses the 2 legs on the same side.  So instead of rising to the trot, you sit well into the saddle, and you find that your hips tend to swing a little from side to side.  A much smoother ride whilst trotting and the transition from trot to canter was almost unnoticed.  These horses have not been trained to walk this way, their shoulder bones are actually constructed in a different way, so the action is totally natural.

We also visited Cape Charles on the East coast, renowned for its birding and tranquil seas, and watched pelicans diving for fish. We stayed in a motel for the night and this gave us the opportunity of exploring the area.  Fabulous beaches along the coast and huge expanses of water crying out for a good day's sailing!  Cape Charles is a good place to visit during the winter months, where you can watch the whales making their way up to the ice floes.

On another weekend, we visited the Blue Ridge Mountains, so called because they are covered with trees which inevitably give off moisture.  When looking at the mountains from a distance, there appears to be a blue haze over them caused by the moisture.  These are rugged with some amazing vistas and a 110 mile scenic drive along the ridge.  When you stand and look down into the valley, you can visualise the bygone days when the wagon train would make its journey across the landscape.  Today there is every conceivable activity to enjoy during the summer months, but it gets very cold there in the winter.  This is one of the places you may be lucky enough to see a black bear and there are instructions as to how to behave if you come across one of them.  Don't run whatever you do!

By the time I get back on 12th November, we will be well into fall.  The trees turn an amazing colour and everybody starts to participate in activities again.  You see more people out and about and there are more strenuous weekend activities.  The next thing will be Thanksgiving which is a big event in America.

I made my first cake Stateside

This week we have finally put paid to all our move related problems and things are starting to settle. We are getting the hang of our "stick shift" car (its not the same changing gear with your right hand). The fridge was the final straw and we lost some of our food as it quickly goes off in the heat.  It is now fixed and I was so inspired I made my first cake Stateside!

We visited Pocahontas state park last week to watch a Jazz concert in the evening.  Prior to that, we have visited the park on several occasions and discovered a water snake catching fish, we also saw a duckling snatched from the water by a bald-headed eagle and many dragonfly darting here and there.  There are also a lot of tree frogs, although we have never seen them, we hear them constantly.

 

 

 

We initially thought we might have difficulty finding somewhere for our walks, but have now discovered several large parks not far away and a riverside walk which is even nearer.  There appears to be no provision for walking generally speaking.  The roads are large and have at least 2 lanes each way, with strip malls in groups along the highway.  It is actually easier to get in the car and drive across the road than to go on foot, and there are no public footpaths along the streets or across fields as we have in England. 

 

On Friday we visited the "Dockside" which is a fish restaurant in Hopewell on the banks of the James River.  We ate on the veranda and watched the sun set across the water

 

Sunday saw us at the Henricus Park situated on the banks of the River James.  A lovely place and very tranquil, but not a soul in sight.  Once again we witnessed a hungry bald headed eagle catching something on the river.  You can tell them by the piercing call they give beforehand, see a large dark shadow pass overhead and next minute, something is grabbed from the water.  That day we also saw a large turtle swimming down the river, some amazing butterflies and finally a stone I nearly tripped over on the path turned out to be an unexpected  tortoise.  Our landlord cannot understand that we only keep them as pets in UK and they are not wandering about in the woods!

 

 

 

Our decking area now has some attractive flowering plants in pots to brighten it up including hibiscus and geraniums.  One of the regular visitors to the deck is a Mockingbird with his family.  He is extremely bold and actually chased off next door's cat by pecking it on the bottom!  They really do have a personality.  The flowers attract bees, insects and butterflies  and we were amazed to find that we now have a hummingbird as a regular visitor.  Mind you, it requires a quick reaction to actually see it as most times you hear the humming noise of its wings as it disappears over the roof.

 

TV is so awful out here, we tend to watch the BBC world news, an occasional daytime movie and have now bought a DVD player so we can borrow films from our local library.  We are currently watching the whole of the first series of Cold Feet.  I loved that programme, so its great fun to watch again.

 

Next week we are hoping to get out to the coast.